The ideas on the origins of war that Bob Holmes reports are not part of a "new theory". The idea that warfare is primordial, innate and adaptive pre-dates the philosopher Thomas Hobbes's The Leviathan (1660) and has had steadfast supporters ever since

We are amazed by the claim by Mario Beauregard and Jeffrey M. Schwartz that Andy Clark's reaction to the claims of non-materialist neuroscience betrays a "fundamental lack of knowledge of mind-brain interactions"...

Of course we should be alarmed by the recent attempts to use brain science as a vehicle for spreading religious ideas. But it is scientists who today denounce the abuse of science for religious purposes who prepared the ground for this new intrusion of irrational ideas into science...

I disagree with your statement that charging a laptop battery "little and often reduces its capacity to charge". This may have been true in the past but lithium-ion/metal hydride batteries do not suffer the same affliction...

It is the height of a very subjective and particularly human conceit to believe that non-human animals are robots incapable of thought or feeling. Every scientist working in this field should be given a cat...

Mark Buchanan says that the physicist Albert Einstein made an error in assigning a special status to light when he developed his theory of Special Relativity. I do not think that this is what actually happened...

A corroded lump of bronze from an ancient Greek shipwreck turns out to be an advanced astronomical calculator. Jo Marchant explores the latest link between this device and antiquity's most famous mathematician

It has been a great year for science books, but keeping up with every good book to hit the shelves can be a serious undertaking. So in case you missed them, here are just a few of the gems we enjoyed in 2008

Ever wondered what how a spacesuit or microwave oven works? This book, which takes apart some of the 20th century's greatest inventions as well as peeking into the future, is an essential read for any wannabe inventor